Everyone loves talking about risk management—what percentage to risk per trade, how to set stop losses, position sizing strategies. But there’s a critical aspect of risk management that rarely gets discussed, yet affects everything else in your trading business.

The Highest Level of Risk Management

I’m talking about the risk management of how well prepared YOU are for trading. This includes:

• Did you get proper training so you genuinely know what you’re doing?
• Can you confidently evaluate whether a strategy is worth pursuing?
• Do you know how to properly implement a trading approach in real market conditions?

This is the kind of risk management people don’t discuss: how much risk are YOU, as the person running this trading business, bringing to the table?

The Business Plan Insight

Years ago, when I first studied formal business plans, I was surprised that the executive summary came first. But it makes perfect sense—you can have the next Apple or Uber as your business idea, but if the people starting and running the business don’t have the right skills and experience, that represents an enormous risk to the entire endeavor.

The same principle applies to trading. If you’ve never traded before or done anything similar, and you don’t get proper training to become the right person for this job, you’re introducing substantial risk before you ever place a single trade.

The Hidden Costs of Being Unprepared

Think about traders who jump in with little preparation:

• “I have $20,000, so I’ll just open an account and get busy”
• “I heard about prop firm challenges, so I’ll just join one and start trading”

If that’s your entire plan, and you’re not bringing any more business acumen or skill than that, you are the biggest risk factor in your trading operation.

You Are the Risk

If you’re serious about making trading a significant part of your financial life—contributing $30,000, $50,000, or $100,000+ annually—you need to ask yourself: “Am I the right person to be running a trading business?”

If the answer is “not yet,” that’s okay! But recognize that you need to address some things about yourself as the person managing this trading operation.

From a risk management standpoint, consider:

• What gaps exist in your training?
• What business skills are you lacking?
• What planning, system selection, and execution skills need improvement?
• What daily trading habits need to be developed?

Each skill deficit presents a risk to the capital you’re investing in this business. By addressing these risk factors upfront, you can dramatically improve your odds of success.

The Emotional Payoff

When you properly manage these higher-level risks, something remarkable happens—the fear, anxiety, and stress about blowing your account or taking significant losses diminishes considerably. You go into your trading days with confidence because you know the major risks have been handled well before you place your first trade.

This isn’t just about making more money (though that will happen). It’s also about:

• Trading with peace of mind
• Being present with friends and family when you’re not trading
• Not having trading anxiety constantly floating around in the back of your head
• Treating trading as the professional business it is

The Cost of Inaction

Every day you trade without addressing these foundational risks has a real cost:

• Missed profits
• Unnecessary losses
• Emotional and psychological damage
• Wasted time and energy

As long as you neglect certain aspects of your trading business—and yourself as the person running it—you’re paying for that neglect. The question is: are you aware of how much it’s costing you?

Ready to Address the Biggest Risk Factor in Your Trading?

Join me for my upcoming masterclass:

“Maximize Your Profits in 2025”

In this eye-opening session, you’ll discover:

• 3 different ways you’re leaving massive money on the table
• How to get out of the win-some, lose-some cycle and actually keep your profits
• How to win more and lose less

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE MASTERCLASS

Let’s make 2025 your best trading year ever by addressing the risk factors that most traders never even consider.

To your trading success,

Brian McAboy
Inside Out Trading

P.S. If you’d like to discuss your specific situation and identify your current risk factors, book a personal call with me at InsideOutTrading.com. We’ll talk through your training background, find the gaps, and develop a plan to make your trading what you’ve always wanted it to be.












Risk Disclosure
Trading contains substantial risk and is not for every investor. An investor could potentially lose all or more than the initial investment. Risk capital is money that can be lost without jeopardizing one’s financial security or lifestyle. Only risk capital should be used for trading and only those with sufficient risk capital should consider trading. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Affiliate Disclosure
The sender of this message may have an affiliate relationship with the organizations referenced in the message.  Using these links is effectively the same as going directly to the referenced site, but special links are used to track opens and activity.  Clicking the links on this page and making a purchase may create an affiliate commission for the sender at no cost to you. 

HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE DISCLOSURE:
Hypothetical performance results have many inherent limitations, some of which are described below. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those shown. In fact, there are frequently sharp differences between hypothetical performance results and the actual results subsequently achieved by any particular trading program. One of the limitations of hypothetical performance results is that they are generally prepared with the benefit of hindsight. In addition, hypothetical trading does not involve financial risk, and no hypothetical trading record can completely account for the impact of financial risk of actual trading. For example, the ability to withstand losses or to adhere to a particular trading program in spite of trading losses is material points, which can also adversely affect actual trading results. There are numerous other factors related to the markets in general or to the implementation of any specific trading program, which cannot be fully accounted for in the preparation of hypothetical performance results and all of which can adversely affect trading results. Testimonials appearing on this website may not be representative of other clients or customers and is not a guarantee of future performance or success.